Twitter Tips Countdown

A twitting we will go a twitting we will go...

Here is a slimmed down post from Jacqui Cheng Associate Editor
at arstechnica.com for the full unedited story please go to this link.

There are no explicit rules for how to use Twitter, of course, and ultimately, people are going to use it however they see fit; that's the beauty of such a flexible social platform. Still, if you follow these unspoken etiquette rules for being a good Twittizen, you should have no problems gaining followers the old-fashioned way.


Gaining more followers on Twitter
Here are six tips on how to win friends and influence Twitterers.

1) Fill out your bio
It doesn't matter if you're not someone "important"—think of a line or two that describes who you are and what you do and stick it in there. Be clear about it, at least from the casual observer's perspective.

2) Be yourself
Twitter users appreciate it when you simply say the things you want to say, the way you want to say them. Don't waste time trying to think of the funniest possible way to say something and don't try to make yourself sound smarter or wittier than you are. The Twitter community is largely made up of people who just like conversing with others; they want to follow real people, not the shell of the person you might awkwardly be trying to fake.

3) Engage in @ replies, but don't go overboard on @ replies
twitterfollowers.pngTwitter users love to feel like you're noticing what they say and find it compelling enough to engage in a brief back and forth every so often. If you come off as a friendly individual who chit-chats once in a while with followers, more people will feel like you're a welcoming person to follow. This is especially important as you gain more followers.

At the same time, don't @ reply to every single person on the face of the earth. If too much of your Twitter stream is made up of @ replies, new people have little motivation to follow you. Think of it this way: when strangers go to your Twitter page and see an entire page of @ replies about obscure stuff that they couldn't understand unless they followed all of those other people, why would they follow you?

4) Come to think of it, don't go overboard on anything
Tweeting about how your dog scared itself with its own fart is funny the first time, not the 62nd time.

5) If you have nothing to say, don't
No one expects you to force yourself to tweet just for the sake of tweeting if nothing is popping into your head naturally.

6) Don't give yourself an ulcer when followers leave
There are many reasons why someone might "unfollow" you. Sometimes, people realize that you don't talk about the stuff they expected you to talk about, or they thought you were someone else, or they simply feel like they follow too many people and have to start making cuts.

LINK: A couple of other cool twitter links:
6 Unique Twitter Visualizations
Top 10 Twitter Tips for Beginners

PART 5: Freebies as Business Promotion

My precious my shiny precious

Lets face it, everyone loves to get stuff for free.

I have a campaign going this year where I hand out small carabiners with my website stamped on it. What makes it interesting is I also have a hiking website stamped on it too. I am an avid hiker and so I give them out when I meet people on trails and direct them to the hiking website so they can download maps and info on hikes available in the Vancouver area.

I also give them out when I meet people in networking parties. This is a great conversation starter and these days, if you are networking, you are trying to get to know people and not sell them. Think of an inexpensive gift you can hand out that will help steer the conversation down a different path and introduce them to something you are passionate about (like cooking, sailing, hiking or watching movies).

I like to give away 30 minutes on consulting to clients, It's what I have on the back of my cards. The reason for this is that it is very hard for me to explain the value of what I do. Getting the chance to give a person solutions to a variety of their marketing problems is a great way to show the value of hiring me as a "marketing solutions consultant".

I also do free seminars for my local networking groups and my chamber of commerce. Giving is always a good idea and will make you stand out in a crowd or networkers. So start thinking of the type of offers and gifts you can use to get more business connections at your next chance encounter or networking meeting.

Remember that "Givers Gain".

PART 4: Promote Your Business Inexpensivly

Will you be my marketing buddy?

Use strategic partnership marketing

Cross brand strategic marketing is a way to share the cost of printing or the actual mailing of the campaign.

I have done this a lot of times when the budget would not enable me to have a key element. I have negotiated a cross brand concept where both parties came out on top. See this blog post for details.

Another idea would be to send out marketing material (brochures, leaflet and/or business card) of another business in your mail out package. They would do the same for you when they send out to there mailing list which will gives you the chance to reach a whole new pool of potential customers.

Carry out business promotions with complementary businesses. Her is an example: A pet store and a pet grooming business, for example, might use shared advertising, or run a contest together. This can considerably cut down the cost of business promotion, and allow each business to use promotion techniques that would be too expensive to implement alone.

Take some time to pair up complimentary businesses that you know of and pitch the idea. You might be surprised with the positive reaction you get.

PART 3: Promote Your Business Inexpensivly

Stop the pressssssssss...

Sending out press releases is another great way to get some free business promotion.

The caveat to using press releases as a business promotion tool, is that your press release has to actually contain information that is newsworthy, and be engaging enough to get people's interest. Try and have a human angle to the story.

When you read the press release ask yourself:
- Has your business recently expanded?
- Do you have a new product?
- Have you been involved in some promotional activity such as sponsoring a charity event?
- Have you or your company recently won an award?

All of these are examples of "news" that you can capitalize on to get some free promotion for your business. While many business people send press releases to newspapers as a matter of course, don't forget about the Internet.

Formating of the document
Always put Press Release in big letters on top of the release.
Then the statement "For immediate release"
Try and keep it to one page if possible

Then the information in the release should include the following:
- Key players names and how they are involved
- Date that this event happened or will happen
- Relevant quote from upper management
- If possible, a quote form industry expert
- Contact information so they know who to contact to get more quotes and info
- A high resolution image in color or links to a selection of images
- At the bottom of the page your businesses positioning statement

See this link for more details.

Drink Away The Art

I love this art... glug glug glug

Hannes Broecker's
Cool Art Show
Originaly reported by Andrew J Wiener from the thecoolhunter website
Original post can be found here

Forget about wandering through an art gallery and wondering if you’re the only one who has no idea what anything means. Hannes Broecker has brilliantly invited the cultural elite to grab a glass at an exhibition in Dresden, Germany, and drink away the art.

Regardless of what we do or do not understand about art, we can all agree, it stimulates our senses. Broecker has aroused our sense of taste (not to mention eliminated the need of elbowing our way to the bar) by hanging flat, glass containers with a variety of cocktails in the exhibition space. As the night progressed, the levels of the multi-coloured infusions diminished. By the end of the event, the art, itself, ran dry, and empty drinking glasses were returned to where they were originally placed.